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Use Call PopOut to make incoming calls less distracting on Android

By Nicole Cozma2013-11-11

It never fails that calls come in on your phone the minute you're using it to do something else. Now you can skip having a phone call take over your screen, and deal with it in a more efficient manner.

Have you ever been reading an important e-mail, studying some notes, or playing a game, when a call interrupts you? Wouldn't it be nice if you could quickly dismiss the call without putting your current activity in the background? That's exactly what Call PopOut does for you.

Instead of interrupting, Call Pop Out puts the incoming call in a tiny bubble, the same way Facebook uses Chat Heads for new messages. Ready to give it a look? Let's get to it:

Step 1: Download a copy of Call PopOut for your
Android device. The app runs on Android 2.2 and up.

Step 2: After installing, you'll want to open the app and adjust the settings to your liking.

You can choose to mute calls by tapping the bubble, decide which apps (or all) will have their alerts displayed in the bubble, as well as the size and position of the bubble. Most of the features are available in the free version, save for minor things like the ability to put the bubble up top or make it smaller.

Left: the call bubble before you press it. Right: the menu that appears when pressing on the call bubble.

Step 3: When a call comes in, just press and hold on the picture to display the incoming call menu. You can accept, hide the pop-up, mute, or reject calls from the bubble.

When testing this app I noticed that it does not play nicely nicely with apps that display information during calls. So if you use another app like Current Caller ID, you'll have to pick between the two. The good news is that Call PopOut has a disable option, in case you don't want to use it all the time.